Germany • European University Institute

Impact of Covid-19 on the German Academic Job Market in the Social Sciences and Humanities

Currently, the academic job market does not seem to have been severely affected by the Covid-19 crisis. Early-career academic positions continue to be advertised by universities and research institutions.

No information of either Covid-related postponements or cancellations of early-career research positions have been found.

Responses adopted by the Government and the National Funding Agency

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Its website states as follows 'All DAAD scholarship selection meetings with a personal introduction will be suspended until further notice. Applications for current calls for the winter semester will continue to be accepted and processed, commission meetings will be held partly by video conference or decisions will be made on the basis of the written documents.' [1]
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
It offers financial support and project funding extension (see: https://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/announcements_proposals/2020/info_wissenschaft_20_28/index.html)
General information on early-researcher career possibilities (new postdoctoral researchers, established postdocs and researchers eligible for appointment as professors) supported by the Deutsche Froschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) is available at: https://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/research_careers/completion_of_doctorates/index.html#anker82968904 . This includes all disciplines, including the social sciences and humanities.
See in particular the Centres for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences.

[1] https://www.daad.de/en/coronavirus/#Information%20for%20German%20scholarship%20holders%20and%20applicants

Open calls

For open calls, consult such portals as:

Other useful resources

Collected information on the university responses to Coronavirus (in German):

https://www.fzs.de/2020/03/17/uebersicht-hochschulen-umgang-mit-corona-virus/